Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva

Italy
Tuscany
2019

80% Prugnolo Gentile/20% Canaiolo Nero & Mammolo. Prugnolo Gentile is the variant of Sangiovese found in Montepulciano and historically co-planted with supporting varieties like Canaiolo and Mammolo. Proprietor Dora Forsoni has been farmiing her family's vines organically forever, many of them quite old (plantings go back to 1963) and all maintained meticulously by her and by hand. Soils are worked several times per year. The bunches are harvested manually and destemmed with the berries left mainly whole and layered in concrete tanks. Fermentation is spontaneous with native yeasts. Maceration lasts around 10 days before a very gentle, slow pressing. Notably and emphatically, Dora makes a single red wine each vintage: it becomes her Rosso di Montepulciano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Vino Nobile Riserva, distinguished simply by length of aging. The Riserva sees 3 years (vs. 2 for the Vino Nobile normale and 1 for the Rosso di M.) in a mix of French and Slavonian oak botti ranging from 18 to 30 hectoliters. Note the discreet "I & II" appended to the "Poderi Sanguineto" estate name--like so many Italian farms at the turn of the 20th century, Sanguineto was part of a feudalistic agricultural system, divided into blocks worked by sharecroppers for the lord of the manor--Dora's part of the original property is old #1 and #2 blocks.

95+ points
"Classic to the core, the 2019 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva smolders up with a bouquet that mixes crushed violet, smoke, cedar, rose petal and saddle leather scents. This shows the power and radiance of the vintage, offset by a core of cool-toned acidity that adds an abundance of energy and lift. Red berry fruit penetrate deeply, leaving a mineral tinge that tugs at the cheeks. Long, sapid and structured, the 2019 flexes its imposing tannins but remains fresh. This tapers off with a bitter blackberry note that lingers quite long. Bury this unbridled beast in the cellar. It's a classic in the making"
Eric Guido,
Vinous Media
February 2025

SKU/Code: 
DB4686-19
Product Line: 
Wine
Red
Varietal: 
Sangiovese
Farming Type: 
Organic